The 2022 Pittsburgh Steelers are a bit of a different team, to say the least. Expectations were low and, on the other hand, the team was minutes and results away from repeating the feat of last season. In this one, he had a Hall of Famer quarterback – or shadow of him at least – to call his own and healthy TJ Watt for most of the season.
A little less result with a little more hope. So we can sum up the balance of the Steelers this year. The defense, especially on Watt’s return from Week 10, again pressured the opposing quarterback above 30%. Without him, the team yielded something of 24 points per game suffered. With him and the increased blitz and pressure, the Steelers had one of the best defenses in the NFL in the second half of the season.
It wasn’t enough in results. At least not in the postseason, in those terms. But enough for the black-and-gold fan to finally smile after such uncertain times. Negative uncertainty, if there is such a thing, was what loomed in the western Pennsylvania sky. You didn’t know what to expect, except that it was going to be painful. For the first time, Mike Tomlin would have a negative campaign.
Thanks also to him, this was not the case. A number of reasons contributed to the Steelers fan’s final sense of relief. Lamar Jackson didn’t play the ultimate Sunday Night, Deshaun Watson is nowhere near what Cleveland wanted, had Atlanta and Carolina in the way. But, hey, Denver with Russell Wilson lost to that same Baltimore without Lamar. Detroit, the other hot team that didn’t make the playoffs, fell by the wayside precisely because their land defense took 240 yards in the first half alone against the Panthers.
Pick to Pick
There is merit in Pittsburgh. And the positive uncertainty, which was Kenny Pickett having a high ceiling coming in as a rookie, slowly blossomed towards the end of the season. His pocket posture was improving, the turnovers in forced passes – which happened at the beginning of the trajectory – were falling. At no time was Mitchell Trubisky’s return possible with Kenny Pickett being healthy.
